Longhua Martyrs' Memorial Cemetery [Shanghai]

Generally you can't compare this cemetery with an ordinary graveyard, it is more similar to a park.

It used to be the site of the Song-hu Security Headquarters of the Kuomingtang. At that time there was also a prison in the area where many communist revolutionaries were imprisoned and many of them even killed during China's civil wars (1927-1941, 1945-1949). Now it is the resting place for more than 500 martyrs who died for the revolution against the Kuomingtang as well as those who were killed during the Anti-Japanese War. In July 1995 it was opened to the public to commemorate these heroes of New China and has become one of the most important patriotic educational bases of Shanghai.

Surrounded by varied flora you can have a relaxing walk on paved paths through green fields. Mostly there are no tombs in sight but many monuments are spread all over the area which commemorate revolutionary martyrs who fought and died in Shanghai.

At the center of the park stands a monumental sign which quotes Jiang Zemin: "Red Heart Fresh Blood for the People" - meaning 'sacrifice everything for the people'.

In the north west of the cemetery, behind the pyramid shaped memorial hall you can find graves of a more revolutionaries - among them the first wife of Deng Xiaoping.

Close to the graves there is the martyr's memorial hall and the revolutionary cadres memorial hall, but both are not open to the public. Besides the big Memorial Hall, a museum with more than 1,000 relics and numbers of pictures, you can visit the execution ground of the former prison.

Address: No. 2887, Longhua Road, or No. 180 Longhua Road W.

Tel: +8621-6468-5995, if you don't know the right extension just press 0 (Chinese only).

Hours: 9am – 3:30pm (closed on Mondays)

Tickets: 1 yuan for the park, 5 yuan for the Memorial Hall

To get there: Metro Line 3 (Long Cao Station)